For the Cake

Cup of Yum
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch cake pan with baking spray and set aside.
2. Add all of the cake ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan.
3. Place the pan into the oven and bake for 28-32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with slightly moist crumbs. Once baked, remove from the oven and let cool completely.

For the Pastry Cream

1. Pour the milk into a medium-sized saucepan set over medium heat to simmer.
2. While the milk is heating up, place the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk well until combined and smooth.
3. Once the milk has begun to simmer, remove from the heat. Slowly stream half of the heated milk into the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly to avoid curdling the yolks.
4. Once half of the milk is whisked in and smooth, stream the mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk, again, whisking well.
5. Place the pan back over medium heat, whisking constantly. As soon as the mixture starts to thicken and there is a resistance when whisking, remove the pan from the heat immediately. Continue whisking as the mixture will continue thickening.
6. Add the vanilla bean paste and butter and whisk to combine.
7. Use the handle of a wooden spoon or a skewer to poke holes into the top of the cooled cake.
8. Pour the pastry cream over the surface of the cake and spread to all of the edges. Gently press the pastry cream down onto the cake so that it goes down into the holes that have been poked into the cake.
9. Cover the cake with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap is down on the pastry cream. This will help to prevent a skin from forming. Place the pan into the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

For the Ganache

1. Place the heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute. Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate chips and let set for 1 minute to allow the chocolate to melt. Stir together until a smooth, silky ganache has formed.

Assembly

1. Once the cake has chilled, uncover. Pour the ganache onto the cake and spread to the edges. Let set for 5 minutes to allow the ganache to set up slightly. Slice and serve.